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Witness accuses Ghislaine Maxwell of participating in Epstein abuse

A prosecution witness pointed across the New York courtroom at Ghislaine Maxwell when she alleges the British social media site was present – and engaged – while Jeffrey Epstein repeatedly sexually abused her, starting at the age of 14.

The woman, whose identity was concealed under the pseudonym “Jane,” told the jury on Tuesday that the abuse continued for years while she was still a minor and that Maxwell present or participate several times.

Jane, now a professional actress, testified, saying such a first encounter left her feeling “terrified”, embarrassed and numb.

The bombshell testimony was given on Maxwell’s second day criminal trial for allegedly trafficking underage girls for her and Epstein’s sexual abuse. She has vehemently denied the allegations, which could lead to more than 70 years behind bars.

Maxwell’s lawyers have claimed that she is being made a scapegoat for Epstein, a college dropout who has amassed a mysterious fortune and befriended world leaders, the emperor. British tycoons and financial and tech moguls before his demise. He was arrested for sex trafficking in July 2019 and then hanged himself in his cell a month later.

The government claims that Maxwell, the daughter of the late British press baron Robert Maxwell, was instrumental in Epstein’s abuse because she was so adept at gaining the trust of vulnerable young women so that they can be manipulated. Prosecutors say she did so in part to maintain access to the lavish lifestyle Epstein provided.

Jane told the jury, often in great detail, how her relationship with Epstein and Maxwell had evolved from benevolent patronage to predatory.

She recalls how she met the couple in the summer of 1994, when she was 14 years old and attended a performing arts summer camp in Michigan of which Epstein was a benefactor. Her father had died of cancer nine months earlier, and the family was forced to move into a house with a swimming pool.

“Basically, my family went bankrupt,” she recalls.

A month after their first meeting, Epstein sent a private chauffeur to take Jane and her mother to his Palm Beach estate for tea, where he told them he loved supporting young artists, she testified. Jane began visiting regularly, without her mother, spending time at the pool with Epstein and Maxwell. She said they paid for her singing lessons, and also took her shopping and going to the movies.

Jane initially considered Maxwell as an older sister. But the conversation gradually became more adult, she said, as Maxwell asked her casually if she had a boyfriend and then counseled: “Remember when you do, once you fuck them, you can always fuck them again because they’re grown. ‘”

The young woman didn’t even know what the term “grandfathered” meant, she said.

The first time Epstein abused her, Jane said. In another, when she was still 14 years old, he led her and Maxwell into his bedroom. “They moved me over to the bed and took off their clothes,” Jane recalls. “I was just standing there and he asked me to take my shirt off. Then there are hands everywhere”. Other occasions have involved Epstein, Maxwell and other girls: “It’s going to turn into this rage,” she said.

Jane’s voice broke during her testimony and she sobbed at one point, recalling one occasion when Maxwell carried her from her room one night at Epstein’s Santa Fe ranch at Epstein’s orders. he. “I don’t want to go see him,” she said.

During questioning, Maxwell’s attorney, Laura Menninger, questioned whether Jane’s family was as needy as claimed – noting that they had lived for a time in a home in a designated community. control near the golf course.

Maxwell’s attorneys also noted that Jane did not speak to the government until 20 years after the alleged abuse, and appeared to two personal injury attorneys – presumably, Menninger said, because of her financially motivated. She was ultimately awarded $5 million from Epstein’s victim compensation fund, though she received only $2.9 million of that, Jane said, after attorneys’ fees and other deductions. .

Menninger is expected to resume her cross-examination on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, earlier on Tuesday, Epstein’s longtime pilot, Lawrence Visoski, told the jury he had never seen evidence of Epstein’s abuse during his nearly 30 years of service. Visoski said, if he even had an “ink mark”, they would never have seen my daughters and I reported it”.

A prosecutor shot back: “Have you ever let your daughters give Jeffrey Epstein a massage?”

“No,” he replied.

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